Safeway Split Pea Soup

This is the split pea soup recipe I always use. It is foolproof and if you don't have 1 or 2 of the ingredients it still works (witness me not having dried thyme, ham hocks or carrots last night). It is also quite handy that if you shop at Safeway the recipe is printed on the bag of split peas.

Safeway Split Pea Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 lbs. ham hocks (about 3)
1-1 1/2 lbs. ham steak, fat removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 bay leaves
3 quarts (12 cups) water
1 lb. split peas, rinsed
1 teaspoon dried thyme

What I did have was a ham. For the ham hocks and ham steak portion I used about a ham steak's worth of 1" cubes and the de-meated bone.

As referenced above I left out the carrots and the thyme but I usually substitute an Italian herb mix if I am out of thyme.

DIRECTIONS:

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over high heat. Sauté onions, carrots and celery until vegetables begin to brown, about 6 minutes.

Add ham hocks, chopped ham, bay leaves and water.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 2-2 1/2 hours or until ham is very tender. Remove ham hocks and bones. Shred meat into bite-size pieces and return to stock. Discard bones.

Add split peas and thyme. Simmer, uncovered, 1 hour and 20 minutes or until peas dissolve and thicken soup. Remove bay leaves.

Ridiculously, I don't have a picture of the finished product. I have some in a container for lunch but that is not the perfect presentation, especially for split pea soup, second only to gizzards for being a bad food model.

Shrimp13